THE SYNN REPORT, PART 82: ANOMALIE

 THE SYNN REPORT  2 Responses »
Feb 272017
 

 

(For the 82nd edition of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy reviews the discography of Anomalie, including the new album Visions, which is set for release on March 17 — and from which we will be bringing a very special premiere… soon.)

Recommended for fans of: Harakiri For The Sky, Insomnium, Ghost Brigade

As I’ve mentioned before, there’s a certain clique of bands based in and around the Germany/Austria area who, because they’re influenced by Black Metal but don’t fit neatly into that particular box, are often mislabelled as “Post Black Metal”, either through a misapprehension of what that term actually refers to, or through sheer laziness on the part of the writer/reviewer.

This loose collective of acts, many of whom are frequent touring partners and who often share live members, exists on a spectrum, with the most overtly blackened artists (Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Agrypnie) occupying one end of the scale, while the other end of things is home to acts like Post-Metal/Post-Hardcore types Thränenkind and the sadly underrated Todtgelichter.

In between these two extremes we find bands like shimmering shoegazers Heretoir (whose new album I’ll be reviewing very soon) and NCS-favourites Harakiri For The Sky, along with today’s featured artist, Austria’s own Anomalie, whose mainman Marrock has performed live with several of the artists mentioned above, and whose latest album – scheduled for release on the 17th of March – goes some way towards finally justifying the “Post Black Metal” tag which has dogged the band ever since their first release. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: OFERMOD, PURE WRATH, ARS MAGNA UMBRAE, NADDRED, FOVITRON, TIIL SUM

 SHADES OF BLACK  10 Responses »
Feb 262017
 

 

As ever, I’m up to my eyebrows in new music drawn from a black vein that I want to recommend. For this SHADES OF BLACK episode, I’ve picked songs from forthcoming releases and complete new albums and EPs. I have pitifully few words to offer in praise of those complete releases. They deserve more, but I haven’t yet figured out how to stop time or even slow it down, and a few sentences of introduction are all my time allows me at the moment.

Please do try to allocate some of your own time to the music in this large collection. As as is often the case, I made these selections to provide a diversity of styles within the multifaceted genre of black metal.

OFERMOD

Sweden’s Ofermod includes members of such bands as Serpent Noir, Nefandus, Head of the Demon, and Mortuus (among others). The band’s first EP was released in 1998 and their subsequent releases have included two albums (in 2008 and 2012) and a 2014 EP (Serpents Dance). They are now at work on a new album named Sol Nox that will be released by Shadow Records at some point later this year, which will include lyrics written by Dr. Thomas Karlsson, founder of the draconian Order Dragon Rouge. The striking artwork was created by Cold Poison. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: ARCANORUM ASTRUM — “THE GREAT ONE”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Feb 262017
 

 

The Russian symphonic black/death metal band Arcanorum Astrum has recently completed work on their second album, The Great One, which is projected for release this April or May. Today we bring you a lyric video for the album’s title track, which features a guest solo by none other than Karl Sanders of Nile and makes good use of the impressive cover art by Alex Mayhem (Mayhem Design).

A vibrant classical piano melody begins this new song, and it ripples through the song, reappearing in the midst of the storming and the bombast that “The Great One” delivers. Soaring symphonic music gives the song yet another dimension, a mystical one, which contrasts with the song’s surging power. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 3): AL-NAMROOD, GODS, DIAMANDA GALÁS, PHLEFONYAAR, PIMEYDENTUOJA, INSIDIOUS REIGN, CRACKHOUSE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Feb 252017
 

 

This completes a new-music round-up I started early yesterday with Part 1 and a big Part 2. This concluding installment is pretty big, too.

AL-NAMROOD

Al-Namrood is an anti-religious Saudi Arabian black metal band, which has to be a dangerous way for them to spend their time. The first and last time I wrote about them was in 2012 when their third album Kitab Al-Awthan was on the brink of release. Now their sixth album is due for release on CD and vinyl by Shaytan Production on May 16. Its name is Enkar. Continue reading »

MARDUK LIVE IN LOS ANGELES: PHOTOGRAPHS BY LEVAN TK

 Metal News  No Responses »
Feb 242017
 

 

Editor’s Introduction: On the night of February 17, 2017, the Swedish black metal war machine Marduk brought their just-concluded U.S. tour to the Regent Theater in Los Angeles, and photographer extraordinaire Levan TK was there to capture the performance on film.

Once again we’re fortunate to be able to share Levan’s work with you, and hope for more opportunities in the future. Without further ado, feast your eyes: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 2): EVOCATION, DISMA, CELESTIAL GRAVE, FORESEEN, SARCOPHAGUS, CEMETERY URN, FUNERALIUM

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Feb 242017
 

 

One look at the title of this post will tell you that I’m drowning in new music that I want to recommend — seven bands are named, and this is already Part 2 of a SEEN AND HEARD collection for this Friday, and I’m already working on a third part, which I probably won’t finish and post until tomorrow. But, you know, it’s a good kind of drowning.

There’s always a risk of sensory overload when I let these collections get out of hand, or at least a risk of people running out of time before they’re able to sample everything (much less read all these damned words). But rather than retreat, I’ll just borrow the words of Shakespeare as expressed through King Henry V to his soldiers: “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more….”

EVOCATION

I do my best to unearth good music from bands I’ve never heard of, but I also answer the bell like Pavlov’s dog when something new comes out from a band I’ve liked for a long time. Evocation are one of those bands, a group whose music I’ve been addicted to ever since ever since their resurrection in 2007 with Tales From the Tomb. Which is why I’m kind of embarrassed by not learning of these first two songs sooner than I have. Continue reading »

DARKEST HOUR: “GODLESS PROPHETS & THE MIGRANT FLORA”

 Album Reviews  2 Responses »
Feb 242017
 

 

(Here’s Andy Synn’s review of the new album by Darkest Hour.)

Now Darkest Hour’s last album was… how do I put this delicately… a big fat disappointment.

Anodyne and formulaic to a fault, it sounded less like the thrashing melodeath maniacs we’d all come to know and love, and more like a band trying desperately to streamline and sanitise their sound in pursuit of some (arguably long overdue) crossover success.

Heck, the band pretty well said as much in interviews at the time, citing their disappointment at seeing so many of their peers garnering a tonne of mainstream (by Metal standards, at least) attention and commercial success, while they were still struggling for their “big break”, as one of the driving factors behind their shift towards a more generic, Metalcore-friendly sound on their (ultimately sub-par) self-titled endeavour.

But it takes a big man (or, in this case, a big band) to admit when they’ve made a mistake. And, although it may not say so in so many words, Godless Prophets… is not only a heartfelt mea culpa from the DC destroyers, but also just happens to be their heaviest, angriest album since Hiddens Hands… Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ALL HELL — “VAMPIRIC LUST”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
Feb 242017
 

 

We’ve had some enthusiastic words of praise for North Carolina’s All Hell going back to their second release, The Red Sect, in 2015 (“It’s a thoroughly electrifying romp, a ripping rampage of thrashing riffs, punk rhythms, and mad-dog snarls. Hooky as hell and as nasty as a famished wolverine…. It hits that Toxic Holocaust/Goatwhore sweet spot”). Prosthetic Records soon signed the band and reissued that album on LP and CD, and now Prosthetic is bringing out the band’s new album, The Grave Alchemist — from which we gleefully bring you the premiere of a black thrashing track aptly named “Vampiric Lust“.

The new album was produced by Kris Hilbert (The Body) and was mixed and mastered by Joel Grind (Toxic Holocaust), both of whom also worked with the band on The Red Sect. The album is described as “a narrative-driven horror concept album that weaves a tale of alchemy, necromancy, and vampirism over the span of three centuries.” Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): SARKRISTA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Feb 242017
 

 

I try to have something new ready to post every day by around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. Pacific time, which is the awkward time zone in which I live — awkward, because the vast majority of people who visit this site are in time zones that are between two and 12 hours later than the one that organizes life here in Seattle, which is why I start things so early (for me). Sometimes I get the starting post ready before I go to sleep the night before (which is what I did with this one), and sometimes I get up in the darkness and do it the day of.

As you can tell from the title of the post, I’ve collected some new music to spread before you today. What you can’t tell is that the collection is ENORMOUS. It’s so big that last night I couldn’t even finish what I had planned for Part 1. So I decided to pick one band included in Part 1 and defer the others to Part 2… and Part 3.

So how did I choose the one band to tide you over until I finish the rest of this musical flood? In a nutshell, Sarkrista are a remarkable discovery. Allow me to explain. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: SO THIS IS SUFFERING — “PALACE OF THE PESSIMIST”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Feb 232017
 

 

The timer on a bomb has been ticking down, and tomorrow time runs out. February 24th is the release date established by Unique Leader Records for Palace of the Pessimist, the new album by L.A.-based So This Is Suffering. But we’re speeding up the clock and providing a premature detonation today as we host a full stream of the album.

So This Is Suffering were founded in 2006, self-releasing a trio of previous albums, including 2012’s A Deathscene on Delay. This new one marks their first release on Unique Leader. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries